London, England #2...31 May, 2010
After a rousing opening night at RAH, I was up bright and early this morning, knocked back a couple of shots of espresso courtesy of the in-room machine then suffered the hotel gym. It was better than a couple of days ago as I had the place (really just a space) to myself. Done. I was absolutely starving so threw on some clothes and walked up Glouscester Road to a Meditteranian Cafe for a huge plate of scrambled eggs, toast and bacon and a little more caffiene for good measure. Wandered round the shops for a while then back to the hotel for a shower and get ready for tonight's show. As I was walking down the hall to my room I saw one of the staff slipping letters under each door. I approached my room and he handed mine to me then quickly disappeared. Once inside I read the following: "Dear Guests, We are currently experiencing a technical problem with the hot water throughout the hotel which we are investigating. Unfortunately we are unable to guarantee that this will be in working order by the end of the day."....and so on. Not having a shower after the gym this morning wasn't an option so I gritted my teeth and edged various parts of myself in the icy spray being too cowardly to actually stand fully in it. The only good thing I can say is it saves water as you don't linger around too long, apart from that I don't recommend it.
A short hop over to the Albert and we all compared cold shower stories. A quick soundcheck, another superb dinner of roast lamb and several other entrees, salads and desserts thanks to our five star travelling caterers...then on stage for night two.
The Royal Albert Hall seats 5,200 and every possible seat in the house, balconies and boxes were filled as they were last night. In fact, it's a sold out six night run.
What an audience. London audiences can be reserved but judging from the last couple of nights we're in for something else. MK and Co. in top form. It was a quick glass of wine back in the dressing room and I walked back to the hotel with John.
I ran the hot tap to see if the hotel's 'investigation' had led to repair. Cold water.
I rang downstairs and was informed they were waiting on a part and the hot water would flow again, perhaps by midday tomorrow. Stay tuned.
So long,
Richard